


Mundane

by brooklynxmagic (astudyinfic)



Series: 2017 Holiday Drabble Giveaway [4]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M, Mistaken Identity, POV Multiple, Pre-ship, bookstore meetcute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-02-17 09:55:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13074432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinfic/pseuds/brooklynxmagic
Summary: Jace meets a cute mundane at the bookstore.Bat meets a cute mundane at the bookstore.Too bad, neither of them is actually mundane.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kimmyhunter](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=kimmyhunter).



> For kimmyhunter who requested: Jace Herondale/Bat Velasquez They meet in a bookshop, reaching out for the same last issue of a book. Neither of them knows that the other is also part of Shadow World, but just before Christmas, they are about to find out. How is up to you.

The disbelief in Clary’s voice when she asked, “ _ You read? _ ” stuck with Jace, long after everything in the Shadow World calmed down.  Because he did, and often, but she’d never bothered to learn about that part of him.  Not that he could blame her.  Too many other things happening all at once and not enough time to actually sit down and talk beyond her crash course in Shadow World politics.  

After everything settled back into what passed as normal at the New York Institute, Clary and Jace realized how incompatible they were as lovers.  Still one of his best friends, and practically a sister, the break up had been as non-dramatic as could be imagined.  They settled into their new roles and got along fine but that comment from all those weeks ago still irked him.

Jace chuckled to himself as he strolled through the bookstore, wondering how he much look to mundanes.  He’d glamoured his runes but was still dressed in head to toe black, He didn’t expect to be called for a mission before he got home, but a part of him home it would happen.  It had been ages since their last good, eventful mission and he hoped he might finally see some action soon.  Jace was never comfortable when things were quiet in the Shadow World.

Which was probably why he found himself in the ‘supernatural’ fiction section of this particular bookshop.  If he couldn’t be out fighting demons, he would read about someone who did.  There was something soothing about the quiet of a bookstore.  The quiet in the Shadow World was like the calm before a storm.  You knew something bad was just around the corner.  In a bookstore, there was nothing but peace, something that was hard to come by for Jace. 

A book with a wolf on it caught his eye and he reached for it the moment someone else did as well.  “Hey!” the man all but growled, “I saw it first.”

Jace, rolling his eyes in the face of the angry guy, just laughed, “And I grabbed it first.  Seeing it does not claim ownership.”

“I’ll let you have it on one condition.”  Jace admired this mundane’s spirit.  He didn’t back down under the weight of Jace’s stare.  Not many people could do that.   The mundane continued, “You buy me coffee and you can have the book.”  

Book and a date with a cute guy?  He might be a mundane but that never stopped Jace before.  “Yeah, sure.  I’d like that.  I’m Jace.”

* * *

While Bat liked the pack well enough, he couldn’t deal with them all the time.  There was too much... just too much, going on with them.  Things were never quiet.  Then you add in learning about everything he needed to know about the Shadow World, the Accords and all of that, and Bat was feeling a bit overwhelmed.  So he’d snuck out during yet another scuffle between pack members and made his way to his favorite bookstore.  

It was always quiet there.  Quiet and mundane, which was exactly what he wanted and  _ needed _ .  

Ever since the change, Bat found he really liked to read about werewolves.  He’d never been one for supernatural before he was attacked, but now?  Well, now it held a new meaning.  Seeing a book he’d been wanting for awhile, he reached for it, only to bump his hand into that of another.  “Hey!” he growled, forcing his wolf down as it seemed to want to spring out at any little inconvenience.  “I saw it first.”

Only then did he look up, losing himself in multi-colored eyes and golden blond hair.  For a moment he thought he was seeing an angel, but considering the actual angelic beings of this world had black marks all over their skin, he was instead looking at a very,  _ very _ pretty human.  Who rolled his eyes and laughed at Bat, forcing him to fight against his wolf once more, the wolf wanting to bite the man’s pretty face off for the insult.  He hardly heard what the man said, his mind racing with a half-formed idea that might be brilliant or might get him laughed at once more.  

“You buy me coffee and you can have the book.”  A simple trade and one Bat hoped the man would take.  

Beaming when he accepted, he nodded at the book, signaling for Jace to take it.  “Nice to meet you, Jace.  I’m Bat.  So, coffee?”

A date with a cute guy who knew nothing about the weird world Bat found himself in.  They could drink coffee, talk about books, and Bat could pretend to be mundane again for a few hours.  Perfect.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First Date - Jace's POV

Sneaking out of the Institute had always been something of a specialty for Jace.  Growing up with Alec, who was set on following every rule there was, Jace perfected sneaking out after his first year living in New York.  If he wanted to have any fun, he had to be able to get out and see the city on occasion.  Eventually it got to the point where he could leave when he wanted to, but having a date with a mundane gave him a chance to test his skills once more. No matter how much his brother had loosened up, there was no way he would approve of Jace going out with some mundane he’d met in a bookstore.  

Probably wouldn’t believe it anyway.

Bat suggested a coffee shop close to the docks, which seemed strange but Jace didn’t question it.  Some of the best restaurants he’d ever eaten at were random places he’d encountered on missions that took him far from their normal regions.  So if Bat thought this place was worth visiting, Jace was happy to go along.  Plus, other than the possibility of running into a wolf or two, the risk of seeing someone he knew was extremely low.  And the wolves certainly wouldn’t want to chat.  He’d never been their favorite person.

Thanks to his speed rune, he got there in almost no time and stood outside, waiting for Bat to arrive.  Jace couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so nervous for a date.  While he had no doubt about his ability to sweep the other man off his feet, his limited knowledge of mundane culture might prove to be an issue if Bat wanted to talk books or movies or shows.  He really should have asked Magnus for a few tips, but he couldn’t risk Magnus telling Alec before Jace got to know Bat first.  

“Jace, you came!” Bat’s voice carried down the street as he approached and Jace turned to grin at him, struck by how attractive he found the other man.  While he trusted his own judgement, maybe he’d built him up a bit in his mind.  But no, Bat was just as attractive as he’d remembered.

He chuckled, “Why would I have stood you up?  I wanted to be here, hopefully as much as you do.”  Maybe Bat knew something was wrong with him, something not quite human.  Not that mundanes ever thought that about the people they met on a daily basis.  At least according to Clary.  It was a Shadow World thing to look at someone on the street and wonder if they were really a monster underneath that pretty exterior.

“I don’t know,” Bat shrugged, holding the door open for him.  “My life has been really weird the last six months so to have something go according to plan is throwing me off more than I expected.  I’m glad you are here though.  I’ve been looking forward to this.  It’s nice to have something normal for a change.”  Jace tried to ignore the stab of guilt he felt at Bat’s words.  No matter how weird his date’s life had been, dating a half-angel demon killer would probably be too weird for anyone.  He was too focused on his own thoughts to see the guilt that passed over Bat’s features at the same time.

They took their seats and Jace used the menu to give him an excuse for silence.  Was it fair to lead him on?  Shouldn’t he let Bat go and find some nice mundane to date, someone who would be able to understand his life?  Someone who wouldn’t die at the end of a demon’s talon sooner rather than later.   Finally, he talked himself down.  It was one date.  Surely they were allowed this before Jace’s crazy life got in the way.  

“So, what do you do when you aren’t buying books or flirting with attractive men?”  The waiter brought them drinks and Jace nodded to him without taking his eyes off his date.  Sipping it, he smiled, shocked that he managed to pull this off.  He was actually on a date with a mundane and no one at the Institute knew.  Even Alec was in the dark, though he could probably sense Jace’s contentment at the moment, which would lead to questions when he got home later.

Bat, unaware of his train of thought smiled at him, “I was a student.  Taking some time off at the moment but I hope to go back eventually.  Maybe study business or hospitality?”   Neither of those things meant much to Jace but he nodded as if they did.  Mundane lives were so strange to the man who’d been born and raised to be a weapon.  “And you?  What do you do?”

“I’m in law enforcement, of sorts.  I could tell you more but then I would have to kill you.”  Jace winked, remembering the line from some mundane film he saw a long time ago.  Probably he snuck out of the Institute to see with Izzy when Alec was still too repressed to do anything fun.  Now his brother was the troublesome one of the two and it threw Jace more off balance than he cared to admit.

When Bat laughed at his sad attempt at a joke, Jace’s heart pounded like it did when he was heading into battle and he wondered if there might be more to this encounter than a fun night out with someone.  None of his previous dates made him this excited simply from laughing at his jokes.  The date just started and already Jace wanted another one.

Too bad relationships between Shadowhunters and mundanes never worked out.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have a drabble request for my holiday drabble giveaway, [submit it here](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfx0Tb2LpWGkDVd00IyP3J_DkwaptGQVXNFf4LPLDrT7qOMTw/viewform?usp=sf_link#responses). Any fandom I am familiar with is fair game so feel free to submit whatever interests you.
> 
>  ~~Twenty four~~ Thirty-one days of holiday ships! What could be better?


End file.
